Tulare County Issues Notices of Violation to Operators and Growers of Medical Marijuana Sites

September 1, 2011

In a move to crack down on illegally zoned medical marijuana operations, Tulare County has issued seven Notices of Violation to owners, occupants, or lessees of four properties where medical marijuana cooperatives are operating or medical marijuana cultivation violates the requirements of the County ordinance.
 
On Wednesday, Tulare County Sheriff’s Department officials served the Notices of Violation to the seven people, including one corporation, requiring they cease operations within the next 10 days on the four properties. If the owners and operators do not comply within 10 days, the County will file for preliminary and permanent injunctions to enforce compliance.
 
Chairman of the Board of Supervisors Mike Ennis said Tulare County will be more aggressive in enforcing the County's ordinances regulating Medical Marijuana cultivation, distribution, and operations after winning a civil injunction earlier this month against Foothill Growers Association Inc., an Ivanhoe-based cooperative of about 100 people with doctors' recommendations to smoke or ingest marijuana to treat symptoms of health conditions.
 
“Tulare County will not tolerate illegal medical marijuana operations in our unincorporated areas,” Chairman Ennis said. “Medical marijuana operations like the Foothill Growers Association and the others who received notices of violations are a major threat to the public safety of our residents.”
 
The Superior Court found that the Foothill Growers Association violated an ordinance adopted by the Board of Supervisors in 2009, which states that marijuana collectives and cooperatives must be located on land zoned for commercial or manufacturing use within the unincorporated county.

"This is another tool law enforcement can use to combat the overgrown and illegal cultivation of medicinal marijuana,” said Sheriff’s Department Lieutenant Tom Sigley, Commander of the Narcotics Bureau and S.T.E.P. Unit.
 
The four properties are located near Ivanhoe, Seville, and Visalia.  The violations involve both the operation of medical marijuana collectives/cooperatives and noncompliance with cultivation requirements.